88-Year-Old Leica Goes Under Hammer, Sets New Record

May 30, 2011 | Zoltan Arva-Toth | Film , General | Comment |

At WestLicht’s latest auction, an 88-year-old Leica camera from the 0-Series was sold for a record €1,320,000 (approx. $1,900,000), making it the world’s most expensive camera by a very wide margin. In 1923, Leitz made a small batch of less than three dozen prototypes (various sources put the exact number of units produced between 25 and 31) to test the waters, and this batch is known as the Leica 0-Series. The camera that went under the hammer on Saturday is in fully working condition, and is the only camera known with ‘Germany’ engraved on the top plate, WestLicht Auction says. The starting price was €200,000, and the auctioneer expected the item to sell for up to €450,000; so the hammer price was a massive surprise to everyone, including the experts.

Source: WestLicht

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